Last weekend, I had the joy of being a part of a Sunday afternoon potluck in Central Park. It was entirely gluten free and absolutely delicious. Why gluten-free? Oh, only because this potluck was organized by Gluten-Free Girl and the Chef. Shauna James Ahern and Danny Ahern were in New York City on a book tour (for their gorgeous new cookbook!). She tweeted and blogged about hosting a few events in NY, one being a potluck at an undisclosed location.

I’m not gluten-free. I don’t have celiac disease nor am I gluten intolerant (as you can probably tell from the proliferation of glutenous cupcake and cookie recipes around here). But GFG is a blog I enjoy, even beyond the food. The family has a story. They’re a bit quirky and endearing. And man oh man is their baby girl Lu adorable. So, the thought of a gluten-free potluck, full of probably delicious food and obviously awesome folks was a no-brainer.

And it turned out to be even better than I imagined. Not only did I meet the Aherns [who were, by the way, gracious and kind, caring and sweet but oh so real and raw] but also a whole slew of interesting bloggers, GFG fans and friends. I love meeting bloggers I follow and discovering new ones, along with meeting people who just enjoy good food. Tons of that good food made its way to Central Park, most of it homemade and so, so tasty.

In the foreground, you can see the box of Babycake brownies [which they kindly donated], Brandy’s delicious pesto pasta, insane cinnamon rolls, Concord grape lemonade, quinoa salad, my hummus, and other accouterments. And not pictured? Divine peanut butter cups by Kamran. Pickled grapes [which made my day!] by Samantha. Acorn squash and apple crumbles by Brandy.

Everything was gluten-free, almost everything (outside of the crackers basically) was homemade, and it was just legitimately good food. I think that’s something that most of the food-focused conversations today came back to. Whether it be a blogger, a blog reader or a Meetup member, we all seemed to realize it’s just about knowing what you’re eating. And that, in itself, seems to make everything taste better.

Some of the people I met, or discovered after the potluck were there*:

*Or at least saw and sort of interacted with, and found on Twitter. Hey, don’t judge! It’s hard to meet everyone.

** Didn’t meet them, bummed to realize whom these awesome ladies were AFTER the picnic!

*** If you were at the picnic and not on the list, let me know. I’ll update the list as I rediscover everyone.

I just have to give one more thanks to Shauna and Danny. For putting yourself out there, both on the internet on a regular basis and in person this afternoon. Congratulations on the new book, I can’t wait to check it out. It’s truly wonderful to meet truly wonderful people.

And really, when the aftermath of the day is a refrigerator full of leftovers and this, how much more improved could one day be?